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American Woolen Co. I 
Boston, Mass. 



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Published by 

American Woolen Co. 
boston, mass. 



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Copyright, 1911, 

American Woolen Co. 

Boston, Mass. 



Printed by 

Livermore & Knight Co. 

Providence, R. I. 



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INTRODUCTION 

/W£ hundred and fifty years ago, in the 
U days of homespun, when spinning and 
weaving were a prominent part of each 
household's duties, the value and quality of 
cloth was a matter of common knowledge. 
Familiarity with the process of making fab- 
rics brought a general acquaintance with 
cloth, that does not now exist. 

Many persons today do not know the 
difference between worsteds and woolens — 
many more cannot distinguish between those 
of a good and those of an inferior grade. 
This ignorance of quality is not to be won- 
dered at when we consider that what was 
once a part of household work has become a 
great national industry. 

The inability to judge cloth is a matter 
not only detrimental to the interests of the 
consumer, but also to those of the manufac- 
turer. No reputable manufacturer 
afford to give the consumer less than the full 
value for his money ; but that the consumer 




INTRODUCTION 

may know that goods are as represented it is 
necessary that he should understand some- 
thing about the process of manufacture and 
thus be assisted in. determining the quality 
of the article. 

Appreciating that knowledge brings dis- 
crimination, that discrimination means the 
selection and purchase of the best goods in 
any line, we have prepared a few facts as to 
the woolen industry of America, together 
with a short description of the manufacture 
of worsteds and woolens "From Wool to 
Cloth." 

It will be appreciated that limitations of 
space make it impracticable to illustrate every 
process used in the manufacture of woolen 
and worsted cloth, but the text, we are 
confident, will make quite clear the general 
method of manufacture. 



AMERICAN WOOLEN CO. 




From Wool to Cloth 



THE great clothing-wool : producing 
countries of the world are those of 
Australia, South America, the United 
States and South Africa. 

The world's wool production for 1910 
was estimated at 2,952,782,985 pounds, 
of which the United States was supposed 
to have raised about 321,362,750 pounds, 
over one- tenth of the total. 

It is estimated that about two-thirds 
of the clothing wool used by American 
manufacturers is raised in the United 
States. 

The largest producer of the best wool, 
that is of the finest fibre, is Australia, but 



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FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 



much of the wool raised in the United 
States, particularly in Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania and West Virginia, is of very fine 
quality — fairly rivalling that of Australia. 

There is a great difference in the qual- 
ities of different wools. The wools from 
different countries differ, the wool raised 
on different breeds of sheep in the same 
country differ, and the wool raised on any 
single sheep is not all of the same value 
for manufacturing purposes. 

The best wool in soundness of fibre, 
softness and evenness of length, comes 
from the shoulders and sides of the sheep. 

When the fleece is removed from the 
sheep by a skillful shearer, the wool sticks 
together, and the whole fleece may be 
spread out like the skin of the animal. 
Each fleece is tied up separately, and the 
wool is shipped in bags or bales, con- 
taining from one hundred to five hundred 
pounds each. 



r».*r<w»*<**\« m 



FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 



When wool is received at the factory 
it is in fleeces, and each fleece contains 
different kinds of fibres — long and short — 
coarse and fine, and it is necessary that 
these should be sorted into different kinds 
or grades, as may be desired — perhaps 
six or eight different kinds, according to 
the particular uses to which the different 
qualities are to be put. 

The fleece is spread out on a table, 
the center of which is covered with wire 
netting, and through this netting part of 
the dust and other matter from the wool 
falls while the sorting is going on. Sort- 
ers tear with the hands the different 
parts of the fleece from each other and 
separate them into piles, according to 
their different qualities. 

All unwashed wool contains a fatty or 
greasy matter called yolk, which is a 
secretion from the skin of the sheep. The 
effect of this yolk is to prevent the fibres 



BiHIiial 




FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

of the wool from matting, except at the 
ends, where, of course, it collects dust, 
and, forming a sort of a coating, really 
serves as a protection to the rest of the 
fleece while on the sheep's back. 

After the wool is sorted it is next 
cleansed or scoured, in order to remove all 
this yolk, dirt and foreign matter, and this 
is accomplished by passing the wool, by 
means of automatic rakes, through a wash- 
ing machine, consisting of a set of three or 
four vats or bowls, which contain a cleans- 
ing solution of warm, soapy water, until 
all the grease and dirt have been removed. 

Each bowl has its set of rollers, which 
squeezes out the water from the wool 
before it passes into the next bowl. Hav- 
ing passed through the last bowl and set 
of rollers, the wool is carried on an apron 
made of slats on chains, to the drying 
chamber, called the dryer, where is taken 
out most of the moisture. 






FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

The wool is now blown through pipes 
or carried on trucks to the carding room. 

From this point the wool follows one 
of two different processes of manufac- 
ture — that of making into worsteds, or 
that of making into woolens. 

Speaking in a general way, worsted 
fabrics are made of yarns in which the 
fibres all lie parallel, and woolens are 
made of yarns in which the fibres cross 
or are mixed. Ordinarily, worsteds are 
made from long staple wools, and woolens 
from short staple wools. 








GlLLING AFTER CARDING 






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FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

Worsteds 

THE next process in the manufacture 
of worsteds is carding. In this pro- 
cess the wool is passed between cylinders 
and rollers, from which project the ends of 
many small wires. - These cylinders re- 
volve in opposite directions. The result 
is the opening, separating and straight- 
ening of the fibres; and the wool is de- 
livered in soft strands, which are taken 
off by the doffer comb and wound upon 
a wooden roll into the shape of a large ball, 
known as a card-ball or card-sliver, or 
put into a revolving can. The sliver 
from a number of these balls or cans is now 
taken and put through what is known as 
the gilling machine, which to a degree 
straightens the fibres. 

From the gilling machine the wool 
comes off in soft strands. Four strands 
are then taken to the balling machine 



Safe 




FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 



where is made a large ball, ready for the 
combing. It takes eighteen of these balls 
to make a set or fill up the comb. 

By means of the comb the fibre is still 
further straightened out, the short stock 
and noil, or nibs, are removed, and when 
the sliver comes from the combs most of 
the fibres are parallel to each other. A 
number of the slivers taken from the 
comb are then put through two further 
operations of gilling, and wound into a 
large ball, which is called a finished top. 

The dyeing is done in three ways — 
in the top, in the thread or skein after 
being spun, or in the piece after it is 
woven. If the wool is to be stock dyed — 
that is, dyed in the top — it is sent to the 
dyehouse to be dyed the shade required, 
and afterwards returned to be gilled and 
re-combed ready for the drawing. 

Up to this point there has been no twist 
given to the wool, nor any appearance of 



GlLLING— 

-first operation 
English Drawing 




FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

a thread. The top, the soft untwisted 
end, is now run through the drawing 
machine, the process sometimes consisting 
of nine distinct operations, and is drawn 
and redrawn until reduced to the size 
required for its special purpose; and the 
stock is then delivered to the spinning 
room on spools, and is called roving. 

In the spinning the process of drawing 
continues until the twisted thread is 
reduced to the size required, which, either 
singly or twisted together in two, three 
or four strands, is to be used for weaving. 

The yarn is then very carefully in- 
spected, and all imperfections which 
would show in the finished goods are 
removed, and, if it is to be dyed in the 
skein, the yarn is taken to a reel, where 
the skeins are made ready for the dye- 
house. 

The threads must now be prepared 
for the loom, in order that the actual 





GlU-ING — 

English Drawing 



FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

weaving may be done. The thread is 
used in two ways in weaving — as warp, 
which is the thread which runs lengthwise 
of the cloth, and as filling, or woof, which 
runs across the cloth from side to side. 

The warp threads — the threads which 
run lengthwise of the cloth — are sized 
and wound upon large reels, and from 
these transferred to a large wooden roll 
called the warp beam, which holds all the 
warp threads, usually several thousands. 

The filling threads are put on shuttle 
bobbins and placed in the shuttles to be 
refilled by the operatives as required, and 
as the weaving progresses. 

The warp beam is then taken to the 
drawing-in room, where these several 
thousand threads are drawn through wire 
heddles in a frame called the harness, then 
drawn through a wire reed. The com- 
pleted warp beam is now ready for the 
loom. 





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Ring Twisting 




Beaming and Yarn Inspecting 







Scouring Cloth 



FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

The harnesses are placed in the loom, 
and by means of what is called the "head- 
motion," part of the threads are raised and 
part are lowered. This allows the filling 
shuttles to pass above some threads and be- 
low others, rilling out the pattern required. 

The cloth, having been made in such 
length as is desired, is taken from the loom, 
and, by what is known as burling and mend- 
ing, any knots or threads woven in wrong- 
ly are removed, and any imperfections 
which have been discovered through a 
careful examination are corrected. 

The web or cloth is scoured or washed 
and the oil and any foreign matter 
removed. 

Undressed fabrics would now be fulled. 
This consists of running cloth through a 
fulling machine where, moistened with a 
specially prepared soap, it is subjected to 
a great pressure and pounding, which 
aids in giving the required finish. 




Mending Perching 







Fulling Cloth 



Finish Perching 




FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

There are different kinds of finishes 
which require different treatments, and 
it would be impracticable for us to dwell 
in detail upon this matter here. 

If dyed in the piece, the web or cloth 
is taken to the dyehouse and dyed. 
It is thoroughly rinsed, all moisture is 
extracted from it, and it is dried. 

After drying, the cloth is run through 
a machine by which it is brushed and 
sheared, the brushing lifting the long 
fibres, and the shearing cutting them off 
at even length. The cloth is put through 
the press, which irons it out, giving it the 
lustre or the finish that is desired. It 
is examined again for further imper- 
fections, and if such have occurred they 
are corrected. 

Measuring, weighing, rolling and tag- 
ging follow, and the cloth is packed and 
ready for the market. 



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FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

Woolens 

WOOLENS are made from short 
staple wools, known as clothing 
wools, and in the finished woolens the 
fibres of the yarns cross or are mingled 
together. In the case of woolens, after 
the scouring, it is frequently necessary to 
remove burrs or other vegetable matter 
from the wool. To accomplish this the 
wool is dipped in a bath of chloride of 
aluminum or sulphuric acid solution, then 
the moisture is extracted and the wool is 
put through a drier, where the temper- 
ature must be at least 212 degrees. 
This heat carbonizes the foreign sub- 
stance, but has little effect on the animal 
fibres of the wool. 

Next, an ingenious machine called the 
burr picker removes the burr. 

Sometimes there is to be a blend of 
the wool with other stocks, and in that 



- 




FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

case the several different wools are mixed 
together. 

Dyeing of woolens is done in three 
ways — in the wool, in the thread after it 
is spun, or in the piece after it is woven. 
If the wool is to be "dyed in the wool" 
it is now conveyed to the dyehouse, dyed 
the shade required, then returned to 
the mixing room. 

During the process of scouring, when 
the yolk was removed, a large part of the 
natural oil of the wool was also elimi- 
nated, and, in order to restore this lubri- 
cant, the wool is sprinkled with an oil 
emulsion, and the mixing picker thor- 
oughly blends the wools. 

From here the wool goes to the card- 
room, and by means of the carding 
machine the fibres are carded and drawn 
and delivered to the finisher in a broad, 
flat sheet. By means of the condenser 
it is divided into narrow bands, and the 



FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 



wool — free as yet from twist — comes out 
in soft strands. These strands or threads 
are called roping. 

Now comes the mule spinning. The 
roping passes through rolls by which it 
is drawn and twisted to the size required, 
and wound on paper cop tubes or 
bobbins. Such of the yarn as is to be 
used for warp is then spooled from the 
bobbins to dresser spools. It is sized 
and wound upon large reels; from these 
transferred to the warp beam, as in the 
case of worsteds. 

The processes of dra wing-in, prepa- 
ration for weaving, burling and mending 
are practically the same as in the case 
of worsteds. 

The finishing processes of woolens, 
like the finishing processes of worsteds, 
vary with different fabrics, some fabrics 
being scoured and cleansed in the washers 
before fulling, others going to the fulling 



Jack Spooling 




Dye Kettle for Dyeing 

Slubbing and Yarn 



FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

mill without cleansing. After fulling, the 
cloth is again washed and rinsed, and if 
necessary to remove any vegetable fibres, 
it is carbonized. 

Napping or gigging raises the fibres to 
the nap desired. Gigging is done by 
means of a wire napping machine or 
teasel gig, which raises the ends of the 
fibres on the face of the cloth. The 
teasel is a vegetable product about the 
shape of a pine cone, and it is interesting 
to note that no mechanical contrivance 
has ever been invented to equal it for 
the purpose. 

The napping which has been raised by 
the teasel is sheared or cut to a proper 
length by machine. The cloth is pressed, 
and, if it is desired to finish itwith lustre, it 
is wound upon copper cylinders and steam 
is forced through it at a high pressure. 

Next the cloth is dyed, if it is to be 
piece- dyed — that is, dyed in the piece. 





FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

If the cloth is a mixture, the wool was 
dyed immediately after the scouring. 
In worsteds the dyeing is done either just 
after it has been subjected to the first 
combing processes, or the yarn is dyed in 
the skein or hank. 

In the dry finishing the cloth is 
finished with various kinds of finishes 
desired, and it is steamed, brushed, 
sheared and pressed. Another examina- 
tion for any imperfections or defects 
follows; the cloth is measured, packed 
and tagged and is ready for the market. 



The difference between worsteds and 
woolens is principally that in the threads 
or yarns from which worsteds are made 
the fibres of the wool lie parallel, one to 
another, being made from combed wool, 
from which the short fibres have been 




FROM WOOL TO CLOTH 

removed; and woolens are made from 
yarns in which the fibres cross and are 
matted and intermixed. When finished 
the effect of worsteds and woolens is 
materially different. Upon examination 
it will be found that the worsted thread 
resembles a wire in evenness, while the 
woolen thread is uneven and irregular. 
A worsted fabric when finished has a 
clear, bright, well defined pattern, seems 
close and firmly woven, and is of a pro- 
nounced dressy effect ; while woolen cloths 
are softer, they are more elastic, the 
colors are more blended, the threads are 
not so easily distinguishable and the gen- 
eral effect is duller. 






^4^/ fAe American 
Woolen Company 



HPHE AMERICAN WOOLEN COM- 
-*• PANY is the largest manufacturer 
of woolens and worsteds in the world. 
It owns and controls 34 mills, employs 
30,000 hands, has a payroll of $13,000,000 
annually and has a total output of all 
classes of fabrics of 50,000,000 yards per 
annum. 

It is interesting to consider that the 
50,000,000 yards of woolen fabrics made 
annually by the American Woolen Com- 
pany would make a belt around the 
world, and would leave a length besides 
which would extend from Boston across 
the American continent, overlapping San 
Francisco and reaching many miles into 
the Pacific Ocean; if all the pieces of 
woolen fabrics made in a year by the 



AMERICAN WOOLEN CO, 



American Woolen Company were placed 
end to end this long strip would extend 
nearly one-eighth of the mean distance 
from the earth to the moon. 

This Company buys all its wool and 
supplies of every kind direct. Its mills 
are fitted with the most modern and up- 
to-date machinery. Its designers are the 
most able that can be procured. The 
managers and superintendents are men 
of years of experience in the worsted and 
woolen manufacturing business — who 
know the business from beginning to 
end — and were chosen for their ability 
and knowledge. 

This Company employs skilled help, 
and makes, in a large variety of patterns, 
woolen and worsted cloths for Men's 
Wear, Women's Wear and various pur- 
poses; but whatever the goods, they are 
among the best of all grades from the 
lowest to 



high( 






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AMERICAN WOOLEN CO 

Clear-sighted management and un- 
equaled purchasing power, experienced 
buyers, able designers, efficient equip- 
ment, expert operatives, all these unite 
in producing goods unexcelled on an 
economical basis; thus the public is able 
to obtain in the products of the American 
Woolen Company the very best goods 
that can be made — goods made honestly 
and conscientiously from the best of 
materials and in the most attractive 
and fashionable designs — at the lowest 
prices compatible with the quality of the 
goods manufactured. 

This Company has shown by its own 
manufactures that goods of as high qual- 
ity and attractiveness, along its individ- 
ual line, can be produced in America as 
anywhere in the world. 




AMERICAN WOOLEN CO. 



SELLING ORGANIZATION 

THE American Woolen Company does 
not sell its goods through commission 
houses, but through its own selling 
organization, 

The headquarters of this great selling 
organization are in New York, with 
branches in all important trade centers. 

Its New York salesrooms are in the 
American Woolen Company Building, 
which covers the block between Eigh- 
teenth and Nineteenth Streets on Fourth 
Avenue, New York City — a building 
erected with special reference to its serving 
as the New York home of The American 
Woolen Company and the headguarters 
of its distributing organization. 

Something of the amount of detail 
necessary to properly transact the dis- 
tributing, as well as the manufacturing, 




AMERICAN WOOLEN CO. 

parts of this business may be appreciated 
when it is taken into consideration that 
more than 30,000 styles of fabrics are 
shown each season. 

IT behooves you, it behooves every 
American, when buying cloth, ordering 
clothes from the tailor or purchasing cloth 
at the shop, to specify and call for the 
products of this Company. 

THE AMERICAN WOOLEN 
COMPANY 








The tabulations are given for the benefit of those who 
may be interested in the statistics of woolen manufacture. 



Magnitude of Woolen and Worsted 
Manufacture 



Number of establishments . . 913 

Capital $415,465,000 

Cost of materials used .... $273,466,000 

Salaries and wages ..... $79,214,000 

Miscellaneous expenses .... $21,347,000 

Value of product $419,826,000 

Value added by manufacture (products 

less cost of materials) . . $146,360,000 
Employees: 

Number of salaried officials and clerks 5,325 

Average number of wage-earners em- 
ployed during the year . . 162,914 

Wool Product of the United States 



Year 


Pounds 


Year 


Pounds 


1891 


307,401,507 


1902 


316,341,032 


1892 


333,018,405 


1903 


287,450,000 


1893 


348,538,138 


1904 


291,783,032 


1894 


325,210,712 


1905 


295,488,438 


1895 


294,296,726 


1906 


298,715,130 


1896 


272,474,708 


1907 


298,294,750 


1897 


259,153,251 


1908 


311,138,321 


1898 


266,720,684 


1909 


328,110,749 


1899 


272,191,330 


1910 


321,362,750 


1900 


288,636,621 


1911 


318,547,900 


1901 


302,502,382 









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Imports of Wool into the United States 



Year 


Pounds 


Year 


Pounds 


1891 


129,303,648 


1902 


166,576,966 


1892 


148,670,652 


1903 


177,137,796 


1893 


172,433,838 


1904 


173,742,834 


1894 


55,152,585 


1905 


249,135,746 


1895 


206,081,890 


1906 


201,688,668 


1896 


230,911,473 


1907 


203,847,545 


1897 


350,852,026 


1908 


125,980,524 


1898 


132,795,302 


1909 


266,409,304 


1899 


76,736,209 


1910 


263,928,232 


1900 


155,918,455 


1911 


137,647,641 


1901 


103,583,505 








Wool Retained for Consumption 
in the United States 



Year 


Pounds 


Year 


Pounds 


1891 


435,848,459 


1902 


465,851,407 


1892 


452,562,140 


1903 


489,966,914 


1893 


501,141,748 


1904 


458,010,031 


1894 


397,193,069 


1905 


538,357,130 


1895 


524,722,428 


1906 


491,534,247 


1896 


512,235,982 


1907 


499,115,927 


1897 


614,626,136 


1908 


418,648,811 


1898 


389,322,582 


1909 


574,023,650 


1899 


329,361,558 


1910 


587,983,508 


1900 


420,197,228 


1911 


450,804,692 


1901 


388,430,059 







It will be noticed that the amounts mentioned in above table, in 
any one year, are not equal to the sum of the amounts given as 
"Imports of Wool into the United States" and "Wool Product of the 
United States" for the same year. . This is accounted for by the fact 
that some of the wool which is imported, as well as some of the wool 
which is raised in this country, is exported and not used in the United 
States. 



